Envelope



April 1936- e. H. KENNEDY, JR Re; 19,934

ENVELOPE Original Filed Oct. 11, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 s ir April 1936-e. H. KENNEDY, JR Re. 19,934

ENVELOPE Original Filed Oct. 11, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 RUE-772571 GeoyeIZEHFKZVJF:

Reiuuecl Apr. 21, 1936 19,934 ENVELOPE George H. Kennedy, Jr.,Worcester, Mass., as-

signor to United Sta tes Envelope Company,

Springfield, Mass., a corporation of Maine Original No. 2,026,837, datedSerial No. 693,163, October 11,

January 7, 1936,

1933. Application for reissue February 17, 1936, Serial No.

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to envelopes, and has for its object toprovide an improved envelope of the type which does not requiremoistening of its seal flap in order to eflectively seal it, as isnecessary with ordinary envelopes.

In United States Letters Patent No. 1,768,836 issued July 1, 1930, thereis shown and described an envelope which does not require moistening inorder to seal it, this patented envelope having complemental areas ofits seal flap and rear wall coated with an adhesive which sticks uponcontact with itself, but not with uncoated areas. Consequently, when theflap is folded over, disposing its summed or coated area in registeringrelation with the summed or coated wall area, and pressure is applied tothe overlying areas, the envelope is sealed. Such dry-sealing envelopes,however, cannot be packed or handled in the ordinary way, because theslightest contact of their complemental coated areas causes them tobecome prematurely sealed; it has therefore been proposed (see UnitedStates Letters Patent No. 1,800,143, April 7,' 1931) to interposeremovable strips of paper between the summed or coated surfaces but thisis an expedient which greatly increases the cost, and detractsmaterially from the commercial value of such envelopes.

According to the present invention, there is provided a dry-sealingenvelope construction which permits such envelopes to be packed andboxed in the usual way with their real flaps folded down and in whichthe summed or coated areas are effectively prevented from inadvertentlycoming into contact prior to the actual sealing of the envelope. Theenvelope is also constructed so that it can be readily manufactured byexisting envelope making machines, without any special precautions beingtaken in envelopes. The above an features of the invention willhereinafter more fully appear fromthe following description with Fig. 1is a rear view of an envelope with adhesive applied thereto inaccordance with the invention.

Fig.2 illustrates folding of the envelope of Fig. 1 preparatory topacking, without registration of the summed or coated areas.

Fig. 3 shows the envelope of Fig. 1 in a sealed condition.

Fig. 4 is a rear view of a modified form of envelope with adhesiveapplied thereto in accordance with the invention.

' Fig. 5 illustrates folding of the envelope of Fig. 4 preparatory topacking, without resistra tion of the summed or coatedareas.

Fig. 6 shows the envelope of Fig. 4 in a sealed condition.

Like reference characters refer to like parts inthe diiferent figures.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the envelope utilized for the purpose ofembodying the invention is shown as being of usual form with a frontwall I, seal flap 2 and a rear wall 3' constituted by side and bottomflaps folded over andadhesively secured together at their overlappingedges.

Suitably shaped bands of dry-sealing adhesive 4 and Sare provided on theseal flap 2 and rear wall 3 respectively, it being noted that thesumming or coating 5 is farther removed from the envelopes usual scoreline 6 between the flap! and the front wall I, than is the gumming orcoating 4. The gumming or coating 4 and 5 is of such a character thatwhen dry the summed or coated areas will adhere to each other whenpressed together, but no such adhesion occurs from either area cominginto contact with the material of which the envelope is made. Preferablythe gumming or coating 4 and 5 is applied in the form of a. rubbersolution, such as natural or compounded latex, or rubber cement which isallowed to dry, the invention also contemplating the use of otheradhesives posswsing the same general characteristics as described above.

When the seal flap 2 is folded along the score line 6 preparatory topacking, as shown in Fig. 2, vident that the summing or coating 4 on thefolded flap 2 will be entirely concealed and cannot possibly registerwith the summing or coating 5 on the rear envelope wall 3 due to theunequal displacement of the summed or coated areas with respect to scoreline 6. Consequently, the seal flaps of envelopes constructed as shownin Fig. 1 may be folded and the envelopes packed by existing envelopefolding and packing machinery, without any possibility of the summed orcoated areas inadvertently coming into contact,

with each other to cause premature sealing of the envelopes.

Referring again to Fig. 1, it is to be noted that the side flapsconstituting a portion of the rear wall 3 do not extend upwardly to thescore line 6 which provides, as above described, the packing fold, butterminate short of said line 6, thus permitting folding of flap Ton asecondary line 'i offset inwardly of and extending parallel to the scoreline 6. When it is desiredto use the envelope, the previously foldedflap 2;is turned back with its summed or coated edge exposed, so that 55after insertion of the closm'e in the envel p it can be sealed byfolding down the seal flap 2 along the secondary score line 1, as shownin Fig.

3. This brings the gumming or coating 4 and 5 5 into exact registration,so that the scaling is completed by merely exerting pressure on theoverlying gummed or coated areas. A very slight displacement between thescore lines will be sufficient to prevent overlapping of the gumming orcoating when theenvelope is first foldedfor packing, as shown in Fig. 2.This is due to the fact that when the seal flap 2 is finally folded forsealing as shown in Fig. 3. it is shifted, with reference to the rearwall 3, twice the distance between the score lines 6 and I.

When the envelope has been closed by exerting pressure on the overly ggummed or coated areas, the adhesion between the gummed or coat- 7 edareas is such that the envelope cannot be surreptitiously opened, as bysteaming, due to the fact that the rubber solution is waterproof.Furthermore, any attempt to separate the flap 2 from the rear wall 3 bypulling will inevitably result in separating the gumming or coating fromone or the other of the paper surfaces, or in tearing of the paperitself, either of which resuits prevents the envelope from beingresealed. Referring now to Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive, there is shown amodified form of envelope in which the line 8 spaced from the usualscore line 6 between the seal flap and the rear wall 3', the seal flap2' and the rear wall 3' being provided with gumming or coating I and 5'located symmetrically with respect to the score line 8'. When the sealflap If is folded along the score line 8 preparatory to packing. asshown in Fig. 5, it is evident that the gumming or coating 4' on thefolded flap 2'- will be concealed and cannot register with the gummingor coating 5' on the rear wall 3', due to the unequal displacement ofthe gummed or coated areas with respect to score line B. Consequently,envelopes with their seal flaps initially folded as shown in Fig. 5. canbe packed in-the usual manner without any possibility of the gummed orcoated areas inadvertently coming into contact with each other to causepremature sealing of the envelopes.

When it is desired to use the envelope, the

50 flap 2 is turned back with its gummed or coated edge exposed as shownin Fig. i, so that after insertion of the closure in the envelope, itcan be sealed by folding down the seal flap 2' along the score line 5,as shown in Fig. 6. This brings 55 the gumming or coating l and 5' intoexact registration, so that the sealing is completed by merely exertingpressure on the overlying, gummed or coated areas. tween the score lines6' and 8 is substantially the same as the displacement between scorelines 8 and I of Fig. 1, it being evident that a very slightdisplacement between the score lines will be suilicient to preventoverlapp a' of the gumming or coating when the envelope is first foldedfor packing, as shown in Fi 5.

From the foregoins, present invention there is provided an envelopewhich does not require any moistening in order to seal it, the envelopebeing so constructed that the gummed or coated areas which are adaptedto adhere when engaged with whether are maintained out of engagement.thus permitting tbeenvelopestobepackedintheusualmanner the seal flap andfront wall to permit said seal seal flap 2' is provided with a secondaryscoreon which said closure portion is foldable to keep The displacementbe it is apparent that by the without possibility of inadvertentadhesion between the gummingor coating on the seal flaps and the rearwalls of the envelopes.

I claim, v

1. An envelope having complemental areas of its seal flap and rear wallgummed or coated with an adhesive of a type adapted to adhere to itselfupon the application of pressure alone, said envelope having spaced.lines of folding, one to permit folding of the seal flap withoutregistra- 1 tion of the gummed or coated areas and the other to bringsaid gummed or coated areas into regis r.

-2. An envelope having complemental areas of its seal flap and rear wallgummed or coated with an adhesive of a type adapted to adhere to itselfupon the application of pressure alone, said envelope having spacedscore lines for folding said seal flap either with said gummed or coatedareas offset for packing, or with said gummed or coated areas inregister for sealing.

3. An envelope having complemental areas of its seal flap and rear wallgummed or coated with an adhesive of a type adapted to adhere to itselfupon the application of pressure alone, said envelope providing spacedscore lines between flap to be folded over with or without registrationof said gummed or coated areas. .4. An envelope having complementalareas of' its seal flap and rear wall gummed or coated with an adhesivehaving the property of adhering to itself upon contact without adheringto the envelope material, said envelope having spaced lines of folding,one to permit folding down of the seal flap without registration of thegummed or coated areas, and the other to bring said gummed orcoatedareas into register for sealingof the envelope by the application ofpressure alone.

5. An envelope or the like of the class de- I scribed, whose bodyportion and closure portion have complemental areas coated, fordry-sealing purposes, with adhesives adapted to adhere to themselvesupon non-moistened contact, there being a line of fold for said closureportion which obtains registration of said areas,and another line offold, oflset outwardly of said first line,

said areas out of registration.

6. An envelope or the-like ofthe class described, whose body portion andclosure portion have complements-l areas coated, for dry-sealingpurposes, with adhesives adapted to adhere to themselves uponnon-moistened contact, said closure portion having a line of fold onwhich it is foldable against said. body portion, for packing purposes,to offset said coated areas from each other, and said closure portionbeing foldable elsewhere to obtain registration of said coated areaswith each other.

7. An envelope or the like of the class described. having front and backwalls and a closure flap, the. latter providing an area coated withdry-sealing adhesive and adapted to adhere upon non-moistened contactwith a. similarly coated complemental area of said back wall, saidclosure flaphavingascorelineclosertooneofsaid areas than to the other,to permit said closure flap, for packing purposes, to be folded downagainst said back wall with said areas out of registry.

GEORGE E. KENNEDY, Jn.

